Watch out!

I read that there’s a hidden Fourth Wave of the pandemic that may be about to hit. The next few months could bring a level of anxiety, depression and overall stress to what many have experienced so far. This may be because it’s dark outside and we’re stuck inside, or that we’re isolated from family, friends and colleagues; or it may be because politics has added to our stress, the economy continues to struggle, winter and the holidays are coming, and this virus is still raging on. Whatever, it used to be that some time off could help cure things like this… but now it’s probably going to take a more concerted effort to update corporate policies and support systems to help people cope with these issues. You may want to consider adding mental health hotlines to your benefits’ plans (to deal with these and other PTSD and acrophobia-like issues that may arise), expanding sick pay policies to include mental health breaks, continuing to coach your managers to ensure they have appropriate levels of awareness and empathy to deal with these issues, and developing creative team-building exercises to address the political polarization that could spill over into the workplace. Leaders who may get exhausted just thinking about all of this will need to shake that off and put on their thinking caps. Because the best way to prepare for what’s coming tomorrow is to start doing some creative planning today.

 

H. Jackson Brown Jr. (born 1941): American author best known for his inspirational book, Life's Little Instruction Book